Coming back from our trip to Morocco on June 18, I embarked the next day to fly to sunny Rome, Italy. I was living the life of a jetsetter – particularly the exhaustion. Though, I’m still excited to see Rome (and no, it’s before the Lizzie McGuire movie).
I flew in from Brussels – Charleroi Friday afternoon and landed at Rome early evening. I landed at Rome Ciampino, the low-budget airport, so I needed to take a bus to Rome’s Termini station (Central Station), which luckily were a few footsteps away from my hostel.
It was my first time travelling in Europe alone. I got used to being with friends and their never-ending discussion as to where to go next. And now, I was alone – free to decide where to spend my time in the city.
My first impression of Rome was it was very busy and crowded with tourists. Termini station, for example, was bustling with tourists with their big bags on their left hand, maps on their right. The hostel I stayed, Pop Inn hostel, was quite decent, though I find it overpriced – 35€ per night. Though coincidentally, there were Filipinos working at that hostel which really helped me a lot. Having Filipinos around always give an edge –which for my case, it was through free breakfasts and first choice for rooms.
Rome is heavily populated with Filipinos and usually hangout inside the Termini station. So for any Filipinos traveling, do hangout in Termini and if you need some help.
I shared room with 3 American girl and were friendly enough to invite me to come sightsee with them tomorrow. That’s the good part of travelling alone – you have plenty of opportunities to meet newpeople. And what’s funnier is that when you’re alone and no one knows you, so you can fake out many things. I told them my name is JP and I’m Belgian (btw, this doesn’t mean that I’m not proud of being Filipino, I am very proud). They asked me if I speak French, but I said no because I’m Flemish And of course, hardly anyone knows Dutch, so my new identity was safe.
The next morning, the three girls and 1 other American guy (we met him in the hostel the next morning) went to walk around Rome, starting in the colosseum. The place was packed, which is a common sight in Rome and somewhat removes the feeling that you are in Italy. We didn’t go inside but just walked around the area.
We then stopped at the Basilica de San Clemente, known as the Lasagna Church, known as such because the current church was built on top of a few other churches.
We then went on to visit the Vatican’s Musei Vaticani after a quick lunch. The museums hosts to thousand of artifacts collected by the Vatican itself, which includes paintings, sculptures, interesting ancient maps & scriptures. Of course, the highlight of the museum tour was the Sistine Chapel – and though you’re not technically allowed to take photos – it was disappointing to see that roughly 50% of the crowd did actually take photos. (Did I take a photo? What do you think?)
The next place we visited was St. Peter’s Basilica, with high hopes to see the pope, but nope, he wasn’t there. You can also access just adjacent to the basilica the Tombs of the Pope – where Pope John Paul II & of St.Peter’s buried.
After, the girls asked me if I wanted to go out that night and join the Pub Crawl. It was difficult to decide as to one hand, I haven’t partied in Rome though on the other, I was still exhausted.
But my party spirit kicked in so I said yes.The pub crawl was with a crowd of 90% Americans and hardly anyone from Europe and as expected from Asia. We went home at around 4 in the morning, after exhaustion finally kicked in.
The morning after, I left the girls and went around Rome by myself – which was helpful since I have control of my time. I went around the Vaticani Area again (and saw the pope…. From the big screen), walked through the main street and passed by sites like Castle Sant Angelo, the Pantheon, a few plazas here & there, the Spanish Steps, Fontana de Trevi (WARNING: crowded) and culminating at the Colosseum. With my Belgian residence card, I manage to visit inside the colosseum as an EU student (offering 50% discount).
After, I had a plane to catch in a few hours, so I went to my hostel, took my stuff and went to the bus station. Just a tip, at Sunday night, the lines get busy and the bus service are delayed (I was queuing for more than hour – for nothing). I didn’t want to miss my flight, so I bunked in with an Irish guy for a cab to the airport. It cost us 40euros but it could have been more if I missed my flight.Luckily, I manage to catch my flight amazing race style and spent the whole flight ‘Survivor style’ (ie.dozing off).
Rome was lovely though I find it too crowded and touristy. There are lots of sights to se and if you are interested of traveling to Rome but with not so much budget like me, I suggest you check this blog post by 20 Something Travel – where she shares stunning places in Rome you can visit for free.
